AT NO COST TO YOU, GET FUNDING FOR Educate. Radiate. Elevate. WHEN YOU:
Buy a Home / Sell a Home / Lease Commercial Property

Learn how it works

Your Real Estate Transaction Can Fund the Mission of Educate. Radiate. Elevate.

As a member of Investing In Communities®, Educate. Radiate. Elevate. can receive funding as a result of any brokered real estate transaction – home sales, home purchases, or commercial leases. As more supporters use this platform, before engaging a real estate agent, Educate. Radiate. Elevate. will have more resources for its mission.

About

Educate. Radiate. Elevate.’s purpose is to strengthen the educational achievement of underserved K-12 students. Nominated and selected students will receive one term of instruction (18 hours of tutoring over 4 months) from our high-quality tutors, who will focus on assisting the students with academics and test prep while also teaching them the underlying learning and life skills that will allow students to excel in all classes, in college, in their careers, and beyond. These include essential “soft skills” such as planning and prioritizing, time management, focus, creative problem solving, curiosity, innovation, advocacy, collaboration, and emotional intelligence. 

The mission of E.R.E. is to minimize the disproportionate learning losses for low-income students of color and to provide economic, social, and emotional stability for the youth served, their families, and their community. E.R.E.’s practices are based on understanding thar race and income are not destiny; large steps forward are possible. Quality education for all results in a more equitable society where individuals can improve their socio-economic situation on a basis of merit. 

E.R.E.’s Core Values include:

• Empathy. Our team empathizes with our students to build deeper connections, help us better understand what drives their behavior, and find strategies to help.
• Educational Equity. We know that all students can learn when given the opportunity, so we seek to ensure that our students have the support and resources they need to be successful. 
• Cultural Responsiveness. We strive to learn from and relate respectfully with people of all cultural backgrounds by continually reflecting on our own backgrounds and behaviors, actively learning about our students’ cultures and communities, and adjusting our practices accordingly.
• Holistic Approach. We take a comprehensive approach to teaching by seeking to address the emotional, social, ethical, and academic needs of our students in an integrated learning format.
• Partnership. We understand that students’ opportunities for learning extend beyond classroom walls, and thus we strive to nourish meaningful connections with our students’ families, schools, and communities, as well as other organizations providing vital services to them.

Addressing the Achievement Gap

The pandemic has highlighted the ongoing inequalities that have existed in America for decades. The Achievement Gap is being widened with school closures. Low-income students of color are among the hardest hit, resulting in long-term economic costs for local and national communities.

The families of disadvantaged students have suffered higher rates of COVID-19 infection and they often have parents who are essential workers and thus unable to work from home. Furthermore, children in poverty and children of color often lack WiFi and electronic devices, have less access to remote learning, lower quality remote instruction, less conducive learning environments, less home support, and lower engagement. Their families simply cannot afford to give constant parental academic supervision nor pay for outside academic assistance. These disproportionate learning losses for low-income students of color are compounding existing achievement gaps, leading many students to drop out. Even as the COVID crisis wanes, these issues of inequity will persist – unless organizations like ours work to bridge the gap.

The achievement gaps certainly raise moral questions for a society committed to the ideal of equity. But they also impose concrete economic costs. Research has shown that a widened achievement gap results in:

• More uneducated individuals who will be less likely to increase their own knowledge and to provide their future families with high-quality educational opportunities, continuing the cycle
• More individuals working low-wage jobs that do not offer access to benefits, leading to sustained poverty and poor health outcomes
• More crime and higher rates of incarceration
• A less skilled and less productive future workforce
• Less money spent by these individuals on taxes, products, and services

History

Lindsey Wander has nearly two decades of education experience, including six years as a classroom teacher in low-income neighborhoods and ten years running an international tutoring business. She utilized her expertise and resources to form the nonprofit Educate. Radiate. Elevate. in November 2020 as a response to the widening achievement gaps due to pandemic school closures. With E.R.E., the goal is to empower underserved K-12 students in Illinois and Texas with personalized and holistic one-on-one tutoring for academic, enrichment, and test prep subjects while also teaching them the vital learning and life skills so that they can succeed in any classroom and beyond. Despite its recenting founding, E.R.E. already has the support of many volunteers, tutors, donors, and other local nonprofits and service providers. E.R.E. has also developed all processes to train tutors, onboard students, inform parents, monitor student progress, and engage the community.

Impact

Formed in November 2020, Educate. Radiate. Elevate. has not yet started tutoring students. However, the Founder’s other company WorldWise Tutoring LLC, has been in business since 2015. Based on the results of a survey completed by WorldWise Tutoring LLC clients:

• 62.5% of families surveyed reported an improvement in the student’s “confidence”
• 58.3% of families surveyed reported an improvement in the student’s “independence”
• 50% of families surveyed reported an improvement in the student’s “planning and prioritizing abilities”
• 50% of families surveyed reported an improvement in the student’s “organizational abilities”
• 45.8% of families surveyed reported an improvement in the student’s “problem-solving abilities”
• 45.8% of families surveyed reported an improvement in the student’s “critical thinking abilities”

Middle School Students (according to 16 students who took the HSPT/ISEE between 2017-2020):

• Average of 26.25% improvement in Writing & Language
• Average of 29.26% improvement in Reading
• Average of 28.62% improvement in Math

High School Students (according to 90 students who took the ACT/SAT between 2017-2020):

• Average of 22.48 percentile improvement in Writing & Language
• Average of 24.12 percentile improvement in Reading
• Average of 21.04 percentile improvement in Math

Educate. Radiate. Elevate. will give pre- and post- assessments to students and their parents/guardians regarding the students’ ELA and Math mastery as well as capacity for Soft Skills. These results will be compiled and compared to track impact.

Your Purchase, Sale, or Lease Helps Close The Achievement Gap

At no cost to themselves, anyone who cares about closing the achievement gap for disadvantaged students can turn virtually any brokered real estate transaction into funding for Educate. Radiate. Elevate. For example, the purchase or sale of a $300,000 home can result in about $1,350 of free funding. Support their mission by using IIC’s free platform to make arrangements with an agent you already have in mind (as long as you haven’t already signed a brokerage agreement.) Or use IIC to find and choose among real estate agents that are appropriate for the specifics of your residential or commercial real estate needs.